Steam Deck: Playable or still stability/login issues?

[Kemenril]

Had intended on installing Civ6 on my Deck but am now reading about terrible stability/CTD issues alongside launcher problems. Are these still happening? If so, I'm going to save myself the download.

[Sarisin]

I was excited to install it on my Steam Deck as soon as it arrived. I installed it, but let me just say for me the gaming experience was not good. I have played Civ 6 on my iPad and honestly it was better than this. Maybe I just don't have the setting right on the deck to run it, I don't know, but I just went back to my desktop to enjoy the game...crashes and all.

I will try to using the JSAUX dock I just received to see how it runs on my 70 inch TV. Stay tuned.

[TheStrategyWargamer]

Anyone else have issues playing Civ VI on their Steam Deck? Hoping the developer configures the game to work on Steam Deck. I was going to buy the Rise & Fall DLC so this way I can play all of Civ VI on the go but not sure now.

[Oaks]

Originally posted by TheStrategyWargamer:

Anyone else have issues playing Civ VI on their Steam Deck? Hoping the developer configures the game to work on Steam Deck. I was going to buy the Rise & Fall DLC so this way I can play all of Civ VI on the go but not sure now.

Perhaps you already know, but I just wanted to point out that Gathering Storm actually has all the mechanics of Rise and Fall, so if plan to just buy just one DLC, Gathering Storm is the better choice.
You will however miss out on the Civs and Wonders included in Rise and Fall.

[sudagi]

I've had my steam deck for less than a week, and while I've spent plenty of time playing other games on it, I've played Civ VI the most. I'm playing with all of the expansion packs. My perspective is going from my almost potato laptop (4 GB RAM) to the 512 storage steam deck. For me, it is a huge improvement. I can see the character animations and everything. I mean, I knew Montezuma was menacing, but jeez.

I've not yet created any games to play on the steam deck. I've played the tutorial to work out the controls, and joined an already existing Multiplayer game and a Play By Cloud game. I expect those games to last for several more weeks, but can post an update on how the game creation works if no one else beats me to it. For the multiplayer game, it crashed the first time I tried joining through a received invitation, but the second time I joined, again by invitation, it went fine and I played for several hours without any problems. That is the only time Civ VI has crashed for me on the steam deck. The deck does not notify you when it's your turn in cloud games, which I've posted about (in the wrong place, probably) here. You need to either manually check your cloud games on the steam deck or check your steam notifications on your PC to find out if you have a turn waiting.

I've been selecting DirectX 11 in the launcher when I start the game and I haven't had any issues (crashes) with the launcher like I used to before I disabled it on my laptop. While I intend to disable the launcher on the deck based solely on principle, my Linux skills are currently non-existent. I can post an update when I get it finagled, again, if no one beats me to it.

Having said that, here's what I've found with the controls:

-You can move the map around using either the left thumb stick, or the touch screen.
-Use L1 and R1 to zoom in and out of the map, respectively.
-Use the right track/mouse pad to move the mouse arrow around the map/screen, or you can use the touch screen. Using the touch screen will move the arrow immediately to where you've touched.
-To select something, hover over it with the mouse arrow, then press the "A" button, or you can use the touch screen.
-To move a unit, hover the mouse arrow over the space you where you want the unit to go, then hit the right trigger/R2 button. This works for both single turn and multi-turn movement.
-To navigate through menu screens (tech tree, government tree, city production menu, great people, governors, etc.), first, hover the mouse arrow over the scroll bar located at either the side of the menu or the bottom of the screen, then use either L1 or R1 to move the scroll bar. Use the "A" button to select what you want, or use the "B" button to exit. This one took lots of trial and error to figure out.

I hope this helps!

[Sarisin]

This was extremely helpful as I have been trying to muddle my way through a game on my Steam Deck. Honestly, playing on a 32 inch monitor using mouse and keyboard has been ingrained on me for so many years. As a retiree, I really don't go out much or travel so the Steam Deck is not as attractive for me as I thought it would be. I have enjoyed playing other games on the Deck, but again, it is so much easier for me to just play on my desktop. I was never really that good with consoles, game controllers, etc. Having said that, based on your mini-tutorial, I will try again.

I was wondering if you have tried connecting your Deck to a monitor or a TV using a dock such as the one from JSAUX (I got this a few weeks ago). Again, while it does work for me, it makes more sense for me to just use my desktop.

Finally, I appreciate your comments on having only the one crash and that being on multiplayer which I don't play. I continue to have crashes on my desktop so I am very interested in seeing if the Deck can eliminate these crashes.

Again, thank you for taking the time to post this.

[Kemenril]

Originally posted by sudagi:

I've had my steam deck for less than a week, and while I've spent plenty of time playing other games on it, I've played Civ VI the most. I'm playing with all of the expansion packs. My perspective is going from my almost potato laptop (4 GB RAM) to the 512 storage steam deck. For me, it is a huge improvement. I can see the character animations and everything. I mean, I knew Montezuma was menacing, but jeez.

I've not yet created any games to play on the steam deck. I've played the tutorial to work out the controls, and joined an already existing Multiplayer game and a Play By Cloud game. I expect those games to last for several more weeks, but can post an update on how the game creation works if no one else beats me to it. For the multiplayer game, it crashed the first time I tried joining through a received invitation, but the second time I joined, again by invitation, it went fine and I played for several hours without any problems. That is the only time Civ VI has crashed for me on the steam deck. The deck does not notify you when it's your turn in cloud games, which I've posted about (in the wrong place, probably) here. You need to either manually check your cloud games on the steam deck or check your steam notifications on your PC to find out if you have a turn waiting.

I've been selecting DirectX 11 in the launcher when I start the game and I haven't had any issues (crashes) with the launcher like I used to before I disabled it on my laptop. While I intend to disable the launcher on the deck based solely on principle, my Linux skills are currently non-existent. I can post an update when I get it finagled, again, if no one beats me to it.

Having said that, here's what I've found with the controls:

-You can move the map around using either the left thumb stick, or the touch screen.
-Use L1 and R1 to zoom in and out of the map, respectively.
-Use the right track/mouse pad to move the mouse arrow around the map/screen, or you can use the touch screen. Using the touch screen will move the arrow immediately to where you've touched.
-To select something, hover over it with the mouse arrow, then press the "A" button, or you can use the touch screen.
-To move a unit, hover the mouse arrow over the space you where you want the unit to go, then hit the right trigger/R2 button. This works for both single turn and multi-turn movement.
-To navigate through menu screens (tech tree, government tree, city production menu, great people, governors, etc.), first, hover the mouse arrow over the scroll bar located at either the side of the menu or the bottom of the screen, then use either L1 or R1 to move the scroll bar. Use the "A" button to select what you want, or use the "B" button to exit. This one took lots of trial and error to figure out.

I hope this helps!

Amazing response. Thank you.

[Sarisin]

Am I wrong, or is Civ 6 play on the Steam Deck limited to multiplayer only? No single player mode???